I think it would be useful to have a function/keyword (similar to the "EXIST" keyword) that would test whether or not a given path/file name is valid; not whether or not it exists, rather just whether it could exist. I make this distinction because there are instances where a file name/path can be absolutely syntactically valid, but not (yet) exist. A perfect example of what I mean by this would be the command "MD D:\A\B\C\D\E\F" /D", which would, of course, create that directory tree and CD into it. However, I'm not sure at this point if the drive letter should be checked for existence because, simply put, it can be "made" to exist at any point in time if it does not exist simply by using the "subst" command. Also, the existence of the "path" part of a file name/path can be easily determined by using the existing EXIST keyword (although the path would have to be separated from the file name) if that is what is needed. The reason this comes up, just so I can make it clear exactly what I'm looking for, is that I have a batch file that displays a dialog box asking the user for the name of a file that may be created sometime in the future, and I would prefer that the user of this batch file know that the file name is invalid and therefore can not be created at the time it is entered rather than waiting to later and having the attempted creation fail. (In the interim I will probably write a C++ program...)